Contextual Issues and the Functioning Abilities of Low Literate Prisoners.

Black, Stephen

Australian Journal of Adult Education, v29 n2 p8-15 Win 1990

From interviews with 18 low-literate prisoners, the following observations were made: few could function effectively without assistance, which was most likely to come from fellow prisoners; functioning depended on type and importance of literacy tasks to the individual and individual abilities and characteristics. The complexity within this small sample emphasizes that low-literate adults are far from a homogeneous group. (SK)